Janine Adams - Author at Organize Your Family History

Quick Tip #13: Create follow-up notebooks to stay focused

January 22, 2021 By Janine Adams 8 Comments

Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. This one has saved me from going down a rabbit hole many times.

Create follow-up notebooks to stay focused

I love playing detective, which is probably why I love genealogy research. So when I’m looking for information online it’s really hard to resist exploring every clue or idea that comes my way in the course of a research session. But if I do follow every lead, I often end up far away from where I intended to go.

That’s where follow-up notebooks come in. I have created follow-up notebooks by surname in Evernote. (This could certainly be accomplished in other platforms, in a tab in a spreadsheet, or on paper.) When I come across a clue or resource that has no bearing on the research question at hand, I just make a new note in the appropriate follow-up notebook. Later, when I’m researching that surname, the note is waiting for me. I don’t have to worry about forgetting it!

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

Join us for Declutter Happy Hour!

January 19, 2021 By Janine Adams Leave a Comment

This isn’t strictly genealogy-related (though it could be). I wanted to let you all know about a fun opportunity to learn live from me and my podcast co-host, life coach Shannon Wilkinson. We will be presenting Declutter Happy Hour, a four-part class that will be held February 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 6 to 7:30 pm central time.

Shannon and I created Declutter Happy Hour way back in 2009. It started as a teleclass then morphed into an ecourse before we retired it. It ended up being a precursor to our podcast.

We were thrilled to be invited by our friends at Fly Paper to bring Declutter Happy Hour back to life, this time via Zoom!

Declutter Happy Hour is a live experience where you actually get some decluttering done. I think it’s really special because it infuses the decluttering process with a secret ingredient: mindset change (plus fun and laughter).

Each of the four sessions starts with a discussion led by Shannon and me about an important aspect of the decluttering process and the mindset shift that goes with it.

Then, during the class, you get time to work on a decluttering project. It could be something to do with your decluttering your genealogy research. Or you may want to tackle your linen closet (or any other space in your home). Whatever you decide to work on, Shannon and I will stay in the Zoom room, ready and waiting to answer any questions and provide support and encouragement.

By the end of a month of Declutter Happy Hours you’ll have let go of more than just stuff and you’ll have the tools to take on decluttering projects on your own.

Again, Declutter Happy Hour runs on Wednesdays in February at 6 pm central time. You can register at eventbrite. Please don’t delay! Space is limited so we can make sure your questions get answered.

I’d love to see you there!

My simple 2021 genealogy goal

January 15, 2021 By Janine Adams 12 Comments

I’m a big goal setter. I set goals for my business, some of which I actually achieve. I set goals for my personal life, too. (Creating a daily yoga habit is one I’ve actually achieved, and I’m working hard on drinking 64 oz of water a day.)

Every year, I set genealogy goals too. And I rarely achieve them. Last year I blogged about my tendency to set up complex goals and I detailed what I thought were achievable goals for 2020. But once again, I didn’t look the goals I’d set. (Despite that, I did pretty well with the ones that involved creating good habits.)

So this year I want to keep it very simple. My word of the year for 2021 is ease and I want that to saturate every aspect of my life. I really would like to do genealogy every day. (And for that reason I’ll probably have six 30 x 30 challenges this year.) In the interest of ease, I’m going to set up a single genealogy goal for the year, one that I can turn to whenever I’m in doubt about what to work on and one on which I can make progress just a few minutes at a time.

My genealogy goal for 2021 is to review all my source citations and source documents. Back in 2016, I exported my sources and created a checklist in Evernote. (I blogged about that here.) In 2018, I added to the list, which now has 834 sources in it. Of those, I’ve checked 86.

So my go-to activity in 2021 will be to make my way through the sources, checking them off as I go. I anticipate learning a lot and making a lot of notes for further follow up. Will I get through all 748 remaining sources? I don’t know. It’s possible.

I actually have 1195 sources now, having added 461 since the last time I updated the checklist. I’d like to think that perhaps those more recent sources don’t need checking since I’ve become a better genealogist. But if I get there and it feels productive, I’ll keep going.

Right now, this sounds like an interesting project. It remains to be seen whether it will stay interesting. In any case, it will be a nice starting point for the year. I like having a single goal so simple that I’ll remember it.

How about you? What are your genealogy goals for 2021?

Quick Tip #13: Create follow-up notebooks to stay focused

Join us for Declutter Happy Hour!

My simple 2021 genealogy goal

My organizing business

Subscribe by RSS

Subscribe by email